Saturday evening starting after program and regular observing 10 P.M. until 2:00 A.M., 11-12 August (peak evening according to Sky & Telescope, note change of date), at the VBAS field watch the Persied Meteor Shower, the Moon will be a waning crescent, estimated between 110 and 90 meteors per hour, a great evening for observing meteors given the weather holds. Come join us for a great display of the bright Persied Meteor Shower.

Target Date: Tuesday evening, 21 August, Grouping of Saturn, Mars, Spica, and the Moon at the Space and Rocket Center, event occurs at dusk and a little beyond, stay posted for more details.

Early Notice: For early risers, the Beehive Cluster (M44), Venus and the Moon will be very close together in the sky at around 4:00 A.M. on the morning of 12 September, Wednesday Morning, the only morning this happens, well worth getting up to see.

Frank Schenk captured some video of the Venus Transit betwee 19:40 and 19:45 CDT, 0:40 and 0:45 on the 6 June 2012 UT caught Venus near a Sun Spot Group Cantina 68, sunspot number is from the Cantina Obseratory in Italy, no NOAA number was referenced the next day. Frank obtained this shot with Doug Horacek’s 3.5 inch 90mm Orion Refractor, Doug moved the scope Frank took the video. These pictures were obtained just before the Sun set.